By Jamie Bradburn

Paula-Jean Prudat and Christopher Stanton in Red Machine: Part Two. Photo by Pete Aspros.

This sentence is leading off this review. This sentence is intended to mimic the speech pattern that dominates the first segment, and recurs at transitional points among the other pieces, of Red Machine: Part Two. This sentence is telling you that this production is the middle portion of a trilogy that began at this year’s Fringe. This sentence hopes not to alarm as much as the sentence in the program where one of the two directors hopes that the audience will “let yourself be as curious and confused as we are” about this work in progress. This sentence won’t deny that we experienced curiosity and confusion while watching the three short pieces taken from the point of view of different pieces of a writer’s brain. This sentence is proof of how the language games of the first piece etch themselves in the brain, though it may be up to you whether this is appealing or, as repeated at the end of the production, if “this is a sentence” of the legal kind.
This sentence will tell you that despite portions where the brain’s synapses seem more broken than intended, there are good sentences (and performances) to be found. This sentence notes that Paula-Jean Prudat is the chameleon of the ensemble, as she easily glides between animal and human guises. This sentence leans towards calling Tara Beagan’s final section about a crippled pleasure centre the piece that provided the strongest emotional connection.
This sentence indicates that the next performance is today at 4 p.m. at the Theatre Centre.
SummerWorks runs until August 16 at various locations around the city. Check back for Torontoist’s daily coverage throughout the festival.